Has anyone had troubles with head gaskets.. I have a friend that goes to the track with me that has a 2004 cummins, dually, 4 door, 4X4.. He added a larger turbo, 90 horse injectors, intake, exhaust, and the new powermax programmer.. It has 9 or 10 settings.. He put the program on yesterday and went to the track.. The truck was set on lever 6 on the way to the track, and all was fine.. He decided to try level 7 to start with at the track and popped a head gasket first pass.. Has anyone else had similar storries?? All his equipment was bought through ATS.. What should this kind of combo make when all is well?? How are the new trannies holding up?? Any help or ideas would be appreciated..

How much boost is he pushing.If he's over 60 he needs to o-ring the block or head.He does know the sayings "if you're gonna play,you're gonna pay"or "I am my own warranty station".http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cool.gifHe does have gages right?If not he needs them asap.What tranny does he have?Auto will need some work,6 spd will need a clutch.He's probably pushing close to 500 hp.He needs to put it on a dyno to see.Is it a 600?I haven't heard many head gasket problems on the 03+ yet.I guess as guys start pushing the envelope we will see it more...Doug

I don't know if it's a 600 or not.. I don't believe it is.. He has guages, though he's not hooked them up.. He also has the stock tranny.. He called powermax and they told him with the turbo he's got, he was trying to push 60-70 lbs of boost.. Do you all know how much the tranny upgrades cost on the dodge?? I'd say they're similar to the allison, though it's best to ask.. He ran a 14.8 with intake, exhaust, injectors, turbo, and fuel pressure increase.. No programming.. He said on the way to the track the difference was crazy.. I was expecting him to run some good 13 second times if his tranny would hold.. Shouldn't he be there??

It takes some serious hp to get that big heavy 4x4 to run in the 13s range. I bet his tranny was slipping all the way down the track. For tranny upgrades I'm guessing around $2k-3k.


Dougf is right, your friend probably exceed 60lbs of boost and pop the headgasket.


I'm suprised that your friend would do all these mods but not hookup the gauges. That's the first mod to any diesel. Quick mental math your friend must have been around in the 600hp range.


MikeyB

Sounds harsh, but if he did all those mods (and took it to the track) and didn't hook up the guages, then he deserves it. Should have been the first thing done!

Guages are a good thing.. Guages wouldn't have protected him from overboost.. Who's to say how much a non o-ringed head could take unless you've been told or seen it first hand.. Good luck if you ever modify your truck..

Not to be smart,but it is a well known fact that the Cummins weak link is the head gasket after 60 psi.The bottom end on the other hand you will never have to worry about.My truck is modified,but I know if I go too much more with the Mods I'm gonna need to do some head work.The stock Cummins was designed for around 20 psi of boost so when you triple that you've exceeded "design limitations"http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cool.gif.Gages would have at least told him where he was at.Help your freind out and MAKE SURE he gets those gages hooked up.If he's going to stay at that hp level then he's going to have to o-ring the head.As far as auto tranny mods try DTT or ATS.It sounds like he wants/needs a full blown race tranny.If he gets all this done he may very well see 13's...Doug

Thankyou Doug.. He (as I) know very little about the cummins.. Last I heard, he was having the head o-ringed.. I was at the last DHRA race and there was a guy there with an 04 dodge 2wd dually running 12.7's on spray.. He said he was running a completely stock tranny.. Could this be so?? I found it hard to believe, though that's what he said... With the allison, my fastest was 14.51 with the stock tranny..

Morse,


If he is looking to reduce his times a tranny will be needed. It might be a good Idea to give Joe a call at SunCost (http://www.suncoastconverters.com/dodge_pricing.htm). I think the trans will give him much better times as well helping helping to solve those "little" modification querks. BTW....... Joe has a Dodge as well.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Approve.gif Punnish is not the word to use when describing what he has done to that tranny. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif


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The top end of any engine is like a rifle. They can only handle so much power. They are right about the bottom end of the Cummins, you don't have to worry about it. When you add boost and fuel you get power. If the piston can't go down fast enough then something has got to give. Alot can be learned from the larger diesel engines that are producing 200+ hp per cylinder. O rings and special gaskets to handle the pressures are used.